Sherman Lost
by TheLordismyGod
Summary: Sherman is whisked away in the WABAC, but Peabody has no idea where. He has to use a new invention of his, but will that bring Sherman back?
1. Whisked Away

**I take no credit for the idea of the WABAC Return. That concept came from the absolutely incredible fic called Peabody Lost by 1234BlueLagoon…which may or may not have influenced this story's title as well, hehe. GO READ IT. It's amazing.**

* * *

 _If there's one thing Mr. Peabody hadn't discovered yet, it was the fear a parent feels when their child is whisked away from them, but he was about to..._

It was a Saturday in July, and Mr. Peabody, the world's one and only talking genius dog, was in his penthouse at the top of his company, Peabody Industries. He was working on a new feature for his WABAC time machine, called the WABAC Return, a remote control device that will recall the WABAC to the time and place of the person holding it. At the moment, he was about to go into the WABAC and install the receiver in it, but stopped when he noticed his son...

"Sherman! What are you doing?! You mustn't touch that!" Peabody's 5 year old son quickly drew back under his father's stern gaze as he hurriedly replaced an orb shaped object he had been curiously examining back in its place on the shelf.

"M'sorry, Mr. Peabody, I just want to help." Sherman said meekly, looking down at the floor of his father's lab, wringing his fingers in his white shirt, his favorite orange dinosaur stuffed animal in the crook of his arm. But really, what could a 5-year-old do to help a genius dog fix a WABAC?

Peabody's stern gaze relaxed into a soft smile as he looked at Sherman. He was so adorable when he was like this, and he WAS just a curious little boy.

"Ok, Sherman, you can help me. You can pass me my tools, come on." Peabody said as he picked up his toolbox and a transceiver looking device from the table he was standing next to and started walking out his lab to the WABAC room.

"Really Mr. Peabody?!" Sherman said excitedly as he followed his father onto the platform which started moving towards the WABAC.

"Yes, considering what I will be doing, it will make my job easier to have someone hand me my tools." Peabody stepped up into the WABAC and Sherman followed him.

"What are you doing, Mr. Peabody?" Sherman sat down next to the toolbox on the floor of the WABAC and placed his dinosaur toy next to him as Peabody knelt down and removed one of the metal plates from underneath one of the side displays that encircled the inside of the WABAC.

"I…" Peabody grunted as he put the plate off to the side and looked into the space beneath. "...am working on a safety measure for the WABAC. It will allow me to recall the WABAC to the exact time and place I am if anyone ever steals it."

"Oooh, that's cool." Sherman said as he leaned in and looked into the space next to Peabody.

There was all manner of wires, fiber optic cables, and circuit boards running up, around, and all over inside the space, with different colored blinking lights adorning the area like a Christmas tree.

Peabody leaned in and began to work on the equipment inside and Sherman returned to his place next to the toolbox.

Peabody held out a paw behind him. "I need the one with the flat end," he said, describing it because Sherman certainly wouldn't know what the tools were called.

Sherman picked it up and handed it to him. He continued handing Peabody each requested tool until Peabody finally leaned back.

"All done." Peabody replaced the panel. He started marching out of the WABAC.

Sherman quickly followed him. "But Mr. Peabody, aren't you going to test it?"

"There's no way to actually test it, Sherman. Someone would have to steal it first." Peabody chuckled as he looked at him.

"What if I took it?" Sherman quickly amended his statement before his father looked at him. "I-I mean not steal it! Just take it somewhere and then you can see if it works."

Peabody knelt down and placed a paw on Sherman's shoulder. "It's ok Sherman, I know you would never purposefully take the WABAC," he said as he smiled at him. "But I can't let you go in the WABAC by yourself, even if you and I both knew exactly what you were doing. I could never forgive myself if something happened to you."

"Ok."

Reassured, Sherman smiled and bounced over to the elevator. "I'm hungry, Mr. Peabody, is it almost time for lunch?"

Peabody checked his watch and smiled as he walked up. "Yes it is, what would you like for lunch?"

Sherman smiled. He knew he had his father wrapped around his finger. He gave him the best puppy dog eyes he could muster.

"Can I have a tuna sandwich?" he said, blinking quickly for effect. "It's Saturday and I love tuna!" He added quickly as a backup in case the eyes didn't work.

But he didn't need to, the eyes worked. His father smiled at him. "Of course," he said as he joined his son in the elevator.

"A break from making something extravagant and thus extra time to look over the blueprints for the new hoverboard R&D has been developing on the 34th floor would be nice," Peabody said as he hit the button for their penthouse one floor up.

The elevator reached their home and Sherman bounded out.

"Why don't you go play in your room while I make it?" Peabody suggested as he headed for the kitchen.

"Ok, Mr. Peabody." Sherman bounded off to his room, but then suddenly skidded to a stop. His arms were empty.

He could've sworn he was missing something. Oh right, his dinosaur; he left it in the WABAC. He ran over to the elevator again and hit the button to go down. He exited and ran over to the artistically misshapen large red door that housed the WABAC, which had of course shut closed after they had left. But Sherman knew the code and quickly typed it in, sliding in and stepping onto the extending red platform.

As he entered the WABAC one of the displays near the back beeped and changed. Sherman was momentarily distracted by the pretty light display and stared at it in interest for a few seconds before turning around.

As he turned, his feet caught on the toolbox Peabody had also left in the WABAC and started falling. He put his hands out to catch himself but it was too late. His hands slapped and depressed the large red button that Mr. Peabody had told him he could never touch.

The WABAC's doors closed shut and as he got up he noticed the craft whirring and starting up. He looked out the front window and noticed little strands of blue that signaled the WABAC's entry into the time stream.

And there was nothing the 5 year old little boy could do to stop anything. Because he didn't know how.

* * *

Peabody hummed to himself as he spread tuna over a piece of bread. He normally would've made something really extravagant for lunch, but seeing as it was a Saturday, and his son had been really good about trying every new cuisine placed in front of him recently, Peabody figured he could give Sherman a break and make his favorite.

He finished and placed the sandwich on a plate with some chips and a pickle and put it on the table in the dining room in Sherman's normal place. He walked over to the hallway and called Sherman's name.

"Sherman! Lunch is ready!"

He walked back into the kitchen and began preparing his own lunch. It was a few minutes before he noticed that there hadn't been any sound from the dining room. Sherman always made a ruckus no matter where he went, and seeing this was his favorite meal, Peabody imagined he would've come running in, making at least some noise.

He walked back into the dining room. Sherman's sandwich was still sitting on the table, untouched and Sherman was nowhere to be found.

Peabody walked through the hallway over to Sherman's door.

"Sherman?" he asked as he opened it and peeked in.

The room was empty. Sherman's bed was perfectly made of course, per Peabody himself giving Sherman a good sense of responsibility. But the immaculate bed didn't even gain Peabody a proud upturn of the lip as he was more concerned about his adopted offspring's whereabouts at the present moment.

He walked through the house, calling Sherman's name the whole way. He wasn't on the terrace, on the golf course, or anywhere on the upper levels. Peabody finally surmised he must have gone back down to the lab and WABAC room. The why Peabody couldn't possibly fathom.

He went over to the elevator and took it down to his lab and looked it over. Sherman wasn't hiding behind any of his plants, any of the test tubes, or anywhere in the lab.

Peabody felt his heart jump into his chest as he wondered if Sherman had gone into the WABAC. He ran over to the door and rapidly punched in the code, having become slightly agitated when Sherman was not in his room, now slightly below a panic attack.

It swung open and Peabody felt his heart jump further up into his throat.

The WABAC was gone.


	2. Louisiana, 1803

Sherman whimpered as he was thrown backward, the force of the WABAC entering the time stream causing him to fall and slide backwards slightly.

He crawled into his seat and resigned himself to wait until the WABAC got to whenever it was going, then maybe he could get back, or ask someone for help. Even though Peabody had taught Sherman to always ask for help whenever he was lost, Sherman was still too young to realize that absolutely no one in 1803 could possibly help him… After a few seconds the WABAC entered the real world again and touched down.

From the WABAC's readout on the current year, Sherman could tell it was 1803, as far as where, that was a little bit harder. The location pin on the screen was pointing at a spot on a boot shaped object which Sherman recognized as Louisiana. After a few moments of deliberation, he decided to exit the WABAC to see if he could find someone who might be able to help.

He opened the door and walked down the steps. As he looked around, he could see he was in a forested area at nighttime, the glow of the full moon and the WABAC being the only light sources nearby. Sherman could see a dirt road a few yards away leading further into the forest. Of course, being the smart boy that he is, Sherman figured he'd follow that and would eventually find some people who should be able to help. But as he was turning around taking in his surroundings, the WABAC suddenly powered up again.

"No!" he finally yelled and ran towards the WABAC again, but he reached it just as it disappeared, his hands finding nothing but air. His way home was gone. He was trapped in Louisiana in 1803.

* * *

Peabody wracked his brain. _"Well at least I know where Sherman is now, but why would he go in the WABAC and disobey me? I specifically told him I didn't want him to help me test it. I raised him better than that."_

Peabody sighed as he knew exactly what he could do to try and get Sherman back. He might as well test the WABAC Return.

He walked over to his lab again and picked up the controller, a simple device with a single red button in the center. He walked back over to the red door and pressed the button.

Nothing happened, but Peabody expected that. It would take a few minutes for the signal to travel through time and space to the WABAC and for it to travel back to the present.

He busied himself in his lab, looking over the blueprints for the hoverboard, making small notes and changes here and there until he finally heard the whoosh as the WABAC reentered the present.

He rushed out, half beyond elated that the WABAC Return had actually worked, half worried sick about Sherman. Had any ill befallen him? Was he alright?

But Peabody would still have to wait for the answer to those questions as he yelled out a frantic "Sherman!" but got no answer in return. He reached the door and looked in. His toolbox and Sherman's dinosaur stuffed animal were sitting on the floor, but the WABAC was otherwise empty. Peabody ran a paw down his muzzle as he realized what must've happened.

"Sherman must have come back for his stuffed animal and then exited the WABAC after it travelled through time to look for help," he said to himself as he picked up the toolbox and Sherman's stuffed animal and took them back to his lab. He returned and sat back down in his chair.

"Alright Sherman, where did you go?" he said to himself as he punched on the keyboard, bringing up the WABAC's last time and location it travelled. "Oh, right! I was going to take him to Mardi Gras in 1803! Thank goodness I introduced myself before we went. I just hope Sherman finds them before anyone else…"

* * *

Sherman meandered along the dirt road, not exactly sure where he was going, but hoping beyond hope he would find a house. One with nice people where he could maybe get a meal, he never ate his lunch, and his stomach was now growling.

He walked for about another 10 minutes until he noticed light streaming over the edge of the next hill. He ran forward and stopped when he reached the crest of the hill and saw a house. It was a humble abode, typical southern build, painted brown, with green shutters, and a big red barn just to the left, with a pasture extending behind it.

There were no signs of life other than a little candlelight streaming from the windows. Sherman hesitantly made his way across the dirt yard, which was immaculately clean, amazingly, for a farm. He reached the door and steeled his nerves before finally knocking on it hard a couple times.

"Jed! That better not be somma your friends playing early Mardi Gras tricks again!" Sherman heard the female southern drawl emanating from somewhere near one of the windows.

"I promise it ain't Susie!" a gruff male voice answered.

Sherman heard someone walk over to the door and saw a shadow in the window before the door was thrown open and Sherman came face to face with a middle aged, rather plump woman in a plaid dress, her well weathered face framed by glasses that were sitting on the edge of her nose. She looked around in bewilderment before finally looking down and noticing Sherman.

"Good heavens! My dear child, what in the world is a young'un like you doing out this late at night?" she exclaimed, looking down over her glasses at Sherman.

Sherman wasn't quite sure what to say without giving away the fact that he and his father were time travelers.

"I- I-" he stammered, trying think of a reason when his stomach growled loudly again and he was quickly ushered inside by the woman.

"Well, never mind that now, you sound famished," she said kindly. "What's your name, child?"

"Sherman," he answered.

The woman's eyes widened and she gasped. "You're that Peabody fellers adopted son, ain't ya?"

Sherman's hope rose. If these people knew Mr. Peabody surely they'd be able to help. "You know Mr. Peabody?!" he said excitedly.

The woman scoffed. "Of course we know Mr. Peabody! Kinda hard to forget a walkin, talkin, dog! At first we thought 'twas devil was playin tricks on us, but he finally convinced us that he was indeed a walkin, talkin, dog! I'm Susanne by the way, Susanne Applewhite, my husband Jed is in the kitchen. But enough talk, let's get you in there so you can have summat to eat, and you can tell us what yer doing here."


	3. The Applewhites

"Thank you, Mrs. Applewhite." Sherman said as he followed her into the house.

She smiled and scoffed. "Awh, such a polite little boy too! I don't know what in the blazes that dog has done to make you so well-mannered, but he's a lot better than some other real human parents I know have done. Durn kids….so disrespectful." Her face had a downtrodden expression before brightening again. "Well, don't you worry about calling me Mrs. Applewhite. Call me Susie, my husband does, heck, everyone I know does."

Sherman followed Susie into the kitchen, the hardwood floor creaking under their feet. Straight ahead from the entryway, there was a rickety old staircase leading to the second floor of the house, a hallway to the left that ended in a doorway that Sherman could only assume was a back entrance. To the right, there was a living room, furnished only with a couple wooden chairs, one of which was a rocking chair, with a basket of yarn with what looked like a partly knitted scarf sitting on it which Sherman guessed was where she had been sitting before she got up to answer the door.

They turned left and entered a small kitchen, which had a small table on the right hand side, a man with a weathered face sat on one of the chairs facing into the living room, reading a newspaper, wearing overalls and a plaid shirt.

Sherman could see what looked like an old Dutch oven just to the left, with a fireplace right next to it and beyond the glass of the only window in the room he could see a very small square building that he could only identify as an outhouse.

"Jed, do you remember that walking talking dog called Mr. Peabody that came by a few days ago?" Susie asked her husband as they entered the kitchen.

"Course I do, kinda hard ta forget a walkin talkin dog!" he said.

"Well this here is Sherman!" she said, indicating Sherman. "He was the kid Mr. Peabody told us about, that he.. 'adopted'"

Jed sat up, interest now dawning on his face. "Why hello there, Sherman. Mr. Peabody's told us all about you."

A million questions flew around Sherman's head, and he finally managed to get one out. "Why did Mr. Peabody come to visit you guys?"

"Well why don't ya sit down and I'll warm ya up some of our leftover cornbread and we'll tell ya all about it." Susie said as she pulled up another wooden chair to the table and Sherman sat down in it.

She brought over a plate with some cornbread on it after letting it sit near the fire and a jug of milk and Sherman gratefully wolfed the cornbread down and drank the jug of milk.

"Land sakes you poor thing was hungry!" Susie laughed. "Feelin better now?"

Sherman nodded. "Thank you."

"Alrighty then," Susie began. "A couple days ago, Jed was out in the field, and I was out in the yard milkin' our cow, Daisy, when what should I see coming over the hill but a white dog! Standin' on two legs no less! I thought that the devil himself had taken the form of a dog! I just stood standing, staring at it dumbfounded, while it walked down the hill. When it finally got to me it started talking, and that's when I started yelling and screaming for my life like the house were on fire! O' course, Jed heard me and came a runnin'. After Jed chased him around for a few with a pitchfork, we both finally calmed down and he explained to us that he was 'most certainly NOT the 'devil' and we decided to listen to him. He explained that he was a 'time traveler' and had wanted to come and observe our Mardi Gras celebrations, which, by the way, begin tomorrow. He told us about how wanted to bring a child along but wanted to make sure the environment was safe before he did and how he adopted you and everything. So we said 'Sure' and he said he'd be back with you the day before." She finished.

Most of Sherman's questions were now answered, save one. "But I-I'm not supposed to be here, I came by accident, and now I'm stuck here, I don't know how to get back!" Sherman felt on the verge of tears, but held back, embarrassed to cry in front of strangers.

But Susie sensed his distress. "Aww, don't worry sweetheart, I'm sure that dog father of yours is probably fixin up a way to get you back right now!" She put an arm to his shoulder comfortingly. "We don't know anything about this plumb crazy 'time travel' business, but that dog seems smart as a whip, and I'm sure he's probably coming right now!"

Slightly reassured, Sherman sniffed and nodded.

"You're free to stay the night with us, maybe your father will be here in the morning." she said encouragingly.

Sherman's internal clock was messed up. For him, it should've been around 1pm in the afternoon, but here, it was 9, almost 10 at night. But his ordeal and the combination of the milk and cornbread now in his tummy was making him feel very sleepy indeed. He nodded as his eyelids started drooping.

Susie got up from the table. "Well Jed and I were just about to hit the sack. You're welcome to use our spare guestroom, and I have a couple extra blankets in the chest."

Jed folded his newspaper and threw it in the fire and started blowing out the candles while Susie led Sherman through the living room and over to another door in the hallway. She opened it and Sherman walked in and saw literally just a chest, a small side table with a candle on it, and a mattress.

"It's not much, but the blankets should keep you plenty cozy, it gets cold round these parts this time of year."

"Thank you." Sherman pulled the blanket out of the chest and laid down on the mattress.

"If you need anything we'll be upstairs in our room, first door on the left." Susie smiled as she leaned in.

"Hey, since you're from the future n'all, you should already know what's going to happen. Do you know what important thing is going to happen this summer?" she asked.

Sherman wracked his brain for the many history lessons in the WABAC Mr. Peabody had taught him.

"The Louisiana Purchase?" Sherman guessed.

Susie clapped and let out a laugh. "Haha, yes! Jed, this boy is smart as a whip too!" Jed came over and looked in.

"Yes, the United States government is fixin to purchase a whole bunch of land, includin' this here Louisiana off the French! Pretty soon we'll belong to the U.S., not France. Ain't that interestin'?"

Sherman nodded again, feeling sleepier by the minute.

"Well, you just get some shut eye and tomorrow we'll see what to do about gettin you home."

Susie walked over to the table and blew out the candle that was sitting on it.

They both bid Sherman goodnight and soon he was left in darkness. After squirming around, fidgeting, removing some pieces of straw sticking in his back, he had the brilliant idea to use an extra blanket as a sheet and laid it out on the straw mattress and pretty soon fell asleep.


	4. The Reunion

Peabody frowned as he piloted the WABAC through the time stream.

" _I sure hope Sherman found their house…"_

He began running through all the possible scenarios in his head, the worst being Sherman attacked by whatever hostile animals roamed the night. He shook his head, trying to clear the toxic thoughts.

The WABAC burst through the wormhole into 1803 Louisiana, just as the sun was beginning to peek over the horizon, casting the area in an orange glow.

Peabody touched down in the exact same place Sherman had just hours earlier and rushed out of the WABAC. He dropped to all fours and put his nose to the ground and began to track Sherman's scent…

* * *

Sherman was rudely awakened by the sound of a rooster crowing. Just as he was sitting up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Susie burst into the room.

"Rise and shine, sweetie! It's Mardi Gras!" she said heartily.

"Is Mr. Peabody here?" Sherman asked.

"Well no, but Jed has been up since 5 this morning workin' outside and such and he said he'd holler if he saw him."

Sherman sighed and stood up.

"Meanwhile, why don't you help me in the kitchen preparin' our Mardi Gras eatin's?" Susie flounced out of the room, Sherman following her.

He soon found himself in the kitchen, eating a breakfast of porridge, then sitting on a stool, peeling potatoes, while Susie rolled out some dough.

They worked in silence for a few minutes, before Susie spoke up. "So what's it like having a dog for a father?"

Sherman brightened. "Wonderful, he treats me great, he's always there for me when I'm sick, takes care of me when I'm hurt, and we travel to all these cool places in the WABAC!"

"But does he ever...act like a real dog?" Susie looked at him curiously.

Sherman laughed. "Yeah, sometimes. Sometimes he will kick his back leg if I scratch him behind the ears, and sometimes, I hear him in his room, playing with his dog toy."

Susie laughed. "I imagine your life must be quite interesting, what with having a dog for a father AND this crazy time traveling business."

"Yes…." Sherman sighed as he trailed off and went back to peeling potatoes.

Susie picked up on his less than enthusiastic reply. "What's wrong?"

"I love him, but sometimes it feels like he doesn't love me," Sherman sighed. "I tell him I love him all the time, but he doesn't say it back, and I really want to hear him say it."

"Doesn't love you? Of course he loves you, all the things you just told me he does proves he loves you!" she said incredulously.

"Yeah, but it would still just be nice to hear him say it…" Sherman didn't look up as he continued peeling potatoes.

* * *

Peabody crested the hill that led to the Applewhite's farm and noticed Jed in the yard, milking their cow.

He saw Peabody coming down the hill and waved to him. "Hey there, Mister Peabody!" He stood up from his stool and met Peabody at the bottom of the hill.

"It's a good thing you're here, your boy Sherman is real worried." he said as he wiped some sweat from his brow.

"Sherman is here? Oh, thank goodness." Peabody sighed.

"Yeah, he came to our door late last night, hungry and sayin' he waddn't supposed to be here." Jed said as they both began walking toward the farmhouse.

"No he isn't, but I'm sure it was all an accident." Peabody felt relieved, at least his son was safe, that was all that mattered.

"Hey Susie, Sherman! Come on out here! I think there's someone you'd like to see!"

The front door opened and Susie stepped out first. She saw Peabody standing there, smiled, and immediately stepped to the side so Sherman could see who it was.

Sherman's face burst into a wide smile as he ran up to Peabody and threw his arms around him in a hug and the latter fell to his knees, hugging him tight. "Oh Sherman, I am so glad I found you."

Sherman started crying as he gripped Mr. Peabody's fur. "I'm sorry Mr. Peabody, it was an accident, I tripped over the toolbox and hit the red button and then the WABAC was moving and I didn't know what to do!" Sherman gasped and hiccupped into Peabody's fur as he recounted his adventure.

Peabody stopped him. "Sherman Sherman, calm down, it's alright, I'm not mad at you. I could have lost you, but everything's okay now. You're okay and here and I…I.." He was having a hard time putting what was on his heart into words. "I have a deep regard for you, Sherman."

Sherman looked up at him and, unlike Peabody, he had no problem saying what was on his heart. "I love you, Mr. Peabody," he said simply, with nothing but love and affection written on his face.

Susie smiled tenderly at the reunion. "Land sakes, I do think that is the cutest gosh darn thing I ever did see!"

Peabody stood up. "Thank you for looking after my son, Mrs. Applewhite."

"He was no trouble at all!" Susie said. "He was an absolute angel."

"What happened though? I thought you were coming to celebrate Mardi Gras with us anyways." Jed inquired.

Peabody tried explaining, but pretty soon he had lost them. "Well, see I was planning to come back and do just that with Sherman last night, I had the WABAC, that's our time travelling device, preset for that time. But by accident Sherman came without me when we weren't ready yet. And since he already came, I can't just go back to that time and come again, we'd meet a duplicate version of him and the WABAC. So, the only thing I could do was wait a little while and come after."

The blank looks on their faces were enough. Susie finally regained herself. "Well, now that you're here, why don't you join us? We were gonna bring some food over to a Mardi Gras hoedown at our neighbor's place."

Peabody looked down at Sherman and a silent communication passed between the father and son.

He looked back up. "I think that sounds splendid, but we need some time to... get ready. We'll be back in… a few minutes."

"Well alright then, see ya in a few." Susie said.

Peabody smiled at Sherman. "Come on, let's go home."

They waved goodbye to Jed and Susie and walked back to the WABAC. As it was starting up Sherman sat down in his seat. "Thank you Mr. Peabody." he said.

Peabody turned to him and smiled. "Sherman, you do know I would travel the universe to find you if you were lost, right?"

Remembering what Susie had said in the kitchen, Sherman beamed, a warmth filling his chest. "Yes. When can we go back?"

Peabody turned back to the controls. "Whenever you feel you are ready, especially since your ordeal. We do have a time machine after all, we have all the time in the world and can return a few seconds after we left."

Peabody looked at him out the corner of his eye. "And…. you still have a tuna sandwich to eat." he chuckled.

Sherman grinned. He DID want to see what Mardi Gras was like in 1803, but he felt it would be nice to go back home and finally eat that tuna sandwich too. Time travel is fun, but only when you expect it. He leaned back in his chair as the WABAC finally returned the father and son pair home, back to their proper time and place.


End file.
